This is information I had to put together for other staff in the LRC, aimed at all LRC staff.  I picked out a few different things to see as I was there on Wednesday, so I'm not repeating what's already been outlined (I hope!)

Nicola Sutton
Disability Technology Officer
University of Glamorgan


SightVillage2005 

SightVillage is an exhibition for the blind and low-vision community and those who work in this area.  You may remember that John has attended this exhibition over the last few years.

There are loads of things that you would expect to see, like the newest technology in canes, and CCTV's for enlarging anything, National Library for the Blind and information from action groups and other charitable organisations. There were a few projects which are working their way to becoming indispensable to those that need them, so much so that in some cases, school children felt that they were being discriminated against as they didn't have equal access to the information in class! (More about that in a bit)
 
There was a Symposium being held at the same time as the exhibition, and also some very informative seminars on some of the products available.  We went to two of these, and found them very informative.
 
Daisy books 

Dolphin, the software house that developed the screen reader software that is used on campus here for students with low or no vision, have also been developing publishing software for the DAISY book format.  Basically the Daisy book is an e-book that is searchable, and has can have an audio stream connected to the text.  This makes it easy to search the text for a section as you would any e-book, but the audio content makes it accessible.  It is also possible to change the visual look of the book to your own requirements, so that if you want to have a black screen with green writing then you can, and it be in whatever font and size that you require. Diagrams and images can also be a part of the book, so that it is all-round accessible.  Dolphin have been working with Time Warner to produce a commercial audio book, including the reader in the CD and have sold it without classing it as a book for disabled readers, I think the aim is to mainstream the technology so that accessibility is built in!  They have also been working with the RNIB to trail this audio format as part of their talking books service; the interest was so great that they had to close their list of participants in only two days.  As the daisy book can be played on a computer and also standalone readers (a bit like cd players) the format is more portable than the normal audio books offered by the service.  More info on the format and the authoring software can be found at http://www.dolphinaudiopublishing.com/history.htm  It was during a Dolphin project using Daisy books for blind students in mainstream schools that the cry for equal access to this technology came, and it seemed to 'level the playing field' as all students accessed the materials in the same way.

Accessible pda's
 
This was another seminar by Dolphin, and was a demonstration of their soon to be launched screen reader software for pda's.  Using the screen reader software and a Bluetooth keyboard (standard or Braille display) the user can navigate the pda and all of its programs  quite easily.  Very useful when you consider that the most portable calendar available before now was contained within a laptop!  not exactly instant information!  the great thing about making the pda able to talk is that pda's are  mass market items which are less expensive than designed for disability items.  an example of this is that the Bluetooth keyboard is about £60, and the Bluetooth Braille keyboard/display was £2,300.

PocketHAL as it's called, as its called uses the information available, and though not as much information is available on the pda, it works well, and will be usable with any software you might put onto your pda.

T3 talking tablet

Another item of interest for me (as i had been told about this by a prospective student) was the T3 talking tablet.  this is a touch pad, on which you can place a self authored or bought tactile diagram, which will give an audio description of what you have selected, the good thing about this particular model is that the information is layered, so that one tap will give you the name, and two more detail, and 3 more again.  This is technology that you can see being an enormous asset in an educational establishment, especially schools, but as with everything, the design of each tactile diagram would take time to do, and a 'library' of diagrams needs to be established to make the tablet an integrated part of learning.  The royal National College is a partner in the development of the tool, and use it there to aid teaching.  More info http://www.talktab.org/html/introduction.html 

All in all it was a tiring but enjoyable day, and its good to see that there are loads of things being developed to make life easier in so many ways for this community.  it was also great to see that the community itself was at the exhibition as well as those who support blind and visually impaired people.  If there was something I didn't see it was a stall for the guide dogs benefit, even though there were loads of dogs there and their needs were obviously catered for!  I could have also purchased several copies of the new Harry Potter book in large print and Braille, as these were launched at the same time as the hardback copy, and there was also title from the Carnegie medal shortlist available as well.

I also picked up some information on tactile signs, and have that in my extensive pile of leaflets from the show.  Any thing else you want to know you'll just have to ask me!


-----Original Message-----
From: A discussion list for Assistive Technology professionals. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Adrian Higginbotham
Sent: 26 July 2005 13:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Sight Village

Hi Ian et al:
Yep, made it along on Thursday - note although Sight village is still organised by QAC the venue has moved and it's in a dedicated conference/exhibition suite.  Although this is better than QAC which SV has definitely outgrown it still felt a little cramped, stands are not numbered, many lack adequate signage etc.

Lots of old favourites there - or is that "usual suspects" but a notable focus this year on talking mobile phones and PDAs, and some developments in the markets for note takers and low cost computer access solutions.

Personally I find it very interesting that this year more than ever we are seeing a real divergence between providing access to mainstream commercial products and specialised proprietory solutions although in some cases the latter are being delivered on mainstream platforms.

In mobile phones for example Talks screenreader software which facilitates use of any of a range of handsets available from your local highstreet provider represents the former.  RNIB offer a specialist product called I think something like Oasis which is very specificly built to fit a perceived VI market to the point that it doesn't even have a screen is at the opposite end of the spectrum and in the middle is Mobile Access which is proprietory software which is installed on a highstreet handset but which provides it's own functionality and not access to what is available on the phone if you were using it in out of the box configuration.

In the PDA market Dolphin Systems are working on Pocket Hal, a screen reader for a range of PDAs based on the Pocket PC operating system.  Numerous suppliers are still investing heavily in specialist hardware products such as Braillenote and Paqmate. In the middle ground one offering which has been on the market for a couple of months but which is new to me is EasyLink from Optelec.  This is a proprietory software package which runs from a memory card in a Pocket PC highstreet PDA and controled by a braille bluetooth keyboard.

Specific products which caught my attention - mostly but not always for the right reasons...

Talks screenreader for Symbian phones - retails for £150 plus phone however if you purchase direct from Vodafone including from any highstreet vodafone store there are a number of attractive packages that mean you effectively get Talks for free for example the Nokia 6600 on pay as you go with Talks for £130.  However my own handset of choice at the minute is I think the Nokia 9300 communicator, phone and PDA in one and one of the very few handsets on this OS which doesn't have a camera which is something that as a blind person I very much don't need.  The communicator is oft rejected for being bulkier than other handsets but in comparison it's virtually identical in size to my existing 3660. now I just need to check prices.

The HIMs notetaker, a product developed in Korea and getting lots of good press for it's impressive spec and reasonable price. However a bulkier more plasticy ugly "special needs" product I haven't  seen in at least ten years.  No student would thank anyone for recommending one of these.

Humanware, formerly Pulsedata had the latest version of the Braillenote on show. Called the mPower.  Physicly it's pretty much the same as previous versions with regard to weight size design etc.  Technicly there are new features such as support for Bluetooth, and I think wireless connectivity, a multimedia player and so on.  In summary more of the same but continuing to get better and better.

Costing less than a tenth of the two above I liked the look of the CareTek Nanno notetaker.  On the publicity they show it along side a bar of Lindt chocolate to demonstrate that the notetaker is smaller (if a little fatter). It doesn't have all the bells and wistles of products like the Braillenote and Paqmate, it doesn't support Word format, or synchronised with outlook but it does create .txt files that you can inport in to word or any other text editor of your choice, it has a braille keyboard and audio input for storing voice notes, and speech output and voice note playback.  Text and/or voice files can both be transferred to your workstation via the hardwire serial connection.  Not too wizzy but it fits in your pocket, is instant on/off, inobtrusive to use and costs around £500.

In low inpact/cost access solutions:
Guide is a proprietory self voice software suite which runs from a pen-drive allowing you to take your screenreader, applications, and data anywhere for use on any PC with no need to install anything at all on the hoste PC.  I need to investigate further but it's getting reasonable press and could be good for anyone who often needs to move between different machines and isn't dependant on access to specific applications.  Support Email, document authoring & editing, and Web access (which is accomplished I think through Webbie, free accessible Browser at www.webbie.org.uk ).

Freedom box is similar but is a subscription based service which also offers access to verious services such as books and films as well as screen reader and compatible apps.

Twitter is another self voicing Suite of apps including basic Email client, word processor and perhaps most interestingly typing tutor.  At £200 could be the perfect starter package for someone new to computing who is likely to be some way off progressing to other apps.

And think that's just about everything that was new.

Adrian Higginbotham
Accessibility and inclusion adviser
British Educational Communications and Technology Agency - BECTA
Tel: Direct dial 024 7679 7333 - Internal extension #2287
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.becta.org.uk/
BECTA, Millburn Hill Road, Science Park, Coventry, CV4 7JJ 
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian F. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: 24 July 2005 01:35
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Sight Village

Did anyone go to Sight Village at QAC this year? I couldn't make it. 
Anything interesting to report?
Ian Francis